Architectural Concepts Podcast

In this episode, Bett and Russ deliver 10 predictions for 2015.  But don't worry, this isn't one of those predictable prediction podcasts,  No, we wouldn't bore you like that! Instead, we've taken time to also include those futuristic, mind blowing innovations we'd selfishly like to see come about in 2015.Listen and be amazed by our ability to see into the future...Listen now: (download)

Our annual list of the top 10 books we read this last year--fiction and non-fiction.Listen now: (download)Russ' top non-fiction:Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder (A Book Review)To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological SolutionismThe Innovators (Book Review Episode)Dataclysm (Episode: The Intersection of Product Design and Big Data with Natasha Irizarry)The Idea FactoryBett's top non-fiction:The Phoenix ProjectScrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the TimeThe Glass CageTo Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological SolutionismSeneca: Letters from a StoicRuss' top fictionThe Martian: A NovelDaemonCat's Cradle: A NovelWhite NoiseThe CircleBett's top fictionThe Martian: A NovelThe CircleHyperionAndroid's DreamDaemon

When you look back over 2014, and all the new ideas or concepts that you encountered, which struck you as big "a-ha"s -- that is, what did you learn that will reshape how you approach software development next year and beyond?  If  your "a-ha"s don't come to you easily, perhaps listening to Bett and Russ discuss their's will help you reflect on yours.In this episode, Bett and Russ recount their big software related "a-ha"s for 2014.Listen now: (download)

If you have been following this podcast for any length of time, you know about the SEI's SATURN conference.  Whether you are new to this podcast and SATURN or simply want to know what is planned for this years event, you'll want to listen to this episode to hear what the conference chair, Bill Pollak, and his team from the SEI have planned for this years event.The 2015 SATURN event takes place in Baltimore, Maryland April 27-30, 2015.  For Software Architects, this is a must attend event.  Also, the event is taking abstracts from speakers through January 16, 2015.Listen now: (download)References:A classic book:Software Architecture: Perspectives on an Emerging Discipline Paperbackby Mary Shaw, David GarlanWill be a classic:DevOps: A Software Architect's Perspective – Coming May 21, 2015by Len Bass, Ingo Weber, Liming Zhu

IBM is investing billions in commercializing the Jeopardy winning Watson technology.  Recently, they made aspects of the underlying machine learning available in the cloud as services on top of Bluemix. Now anyone can build machine learning into a web site or app--mind blowing!Listen to this episode as Michael Keeling of IBM explains Watson Explorer and the various machine learning services that are part of the Watson Developer Cloud which were recently unveiled.Listen now: (download)References:Samples: https://github.com/Watson-Explorer/wex-wdc-integration-samples/Deep QA (nuts and bolts of Watson)IBM Partners with Twitter

As computing professionals, we spend much of our time automating. Automating tasks that a human would have done manually in the past.  What's the net impact of all this automation?  Has it ultimately made life for the masses sweeter, softer, simpler, and safer? In his latest book, The Glass Cage, Nicolas Carr analyzes this question deeply. He gives great examples, for instance, pointing out that now that our creations are becoming autonomous, our creations encode moral decisions that would have, in the past, been made directly by a human.In this episode, Bett and Russ discuss the more interesting points from this book: The Glass Cage, highlighting how it relates to our jobs as computing professionals. Listen now: (download)References:http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Cage-Automation-Us/dp/0393240762

While nine woman can't make a baby in one month, nine possums can...what does that have to do with software delivery?  You'll have to listen to find out.In this episode, Uma describes his Under-N methodology.  The Under-N methodology provides a framework to uncover hidden capabilities within IT applications and IT application teams and then to use the capabilities to deliver a business need, change, or want in under N hours, where N is the absolute time it takes to deliver. It also elicits capabilities that may not yet be present but that are possible, while outlining four atomic change capabilities that, when implemented, will enable IT applications to deliver changes in an under-N fashion by mixing and matching. Listen now: (download)References:Slides for Uma's presentation: http://resources.sei.cmu.edu/library/asset-view.cfm?assetid=89596

So you think you are good at coding or architecture?  Here's your chance to learn how to prove it to the world through coding competitions like Top Coder.  And yes, there are competitions oriented toward architecture, too.Douglas Woolley has competed in these competitions and joins Bett and Russ to share some stories about competitions along with information about how you can get involved. Listen now: (download)References:•Facebook Hacker Cup: https://www.facebook.com/hackercup•Google Code Jam:http://code.google.com/codejam•TopCoder (USA based): http://community.topcoder.com/tc•CodeForces (Russian based):http://codeforces.com/•Code Chef (India based):http://www.codechef.com/•UVa Online Judge: http://uva.onlinejudge.org/•HackerRank: https://www.hackerrank.com/•Sphere Online Judge (SPOJ):http://www.spoj.com/problems/classical/

Walter Isaacson follows his biography of Steve Jobs with another great book.  This one does not focus on any particular individual, but rather starts with Ada Lovelace and flows through time, up to the present, spotlighting each of the innovators that played a part in laying the foundation for, and ultimately creating, the digital revolution.  In this episode, we briefly review this new book.Listen to hear how many thumbs up this book received from Bett and Russ.Listen now: (download)References:The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution

Listen to this episode to hear how wallowing around in many small balls of mud can help avoid the classic big ball of mud--and ultimately enable you too to practice "the art of destroying software".Turns out the key to writing great software starts with planning upfront to destroy it.  In this episode, Greg shares many insights, with the main insight being that we have all been overlooking one key  "-ility". That is, is delete-ability of code.  And while some of you might argue the ideas are not new, Greg's way of presenting them definitely is.Listen now: (download)References:Greg's blog: http://goodenoughsoftware.net/Programming Erlang: Software for a Concurrent World by Joe ArmstrongLearn You Some Erlang for Great Good!: A Beginner's Guide by Fred HebertThe Glass Cage: Automation and Us by Nicholas CarrParallel Distributed Processing, Volume 1 By David E. Rumelhart, James L. McClelland and PDP Research Group

An interesting, entertaining, and wide ranging discussion with product designer, Natasha Irizarry. Natasha has quickly compiled some very interesting experience in software product design, some of which was gained while at OkCupid where she worked alongside Christian Rudder while he was completing his book Dataclysm.Listen as we start with Natasha's perspectives on user experience design, experiments, strategy, and make our way to a discussion of the best selling "big data book": Dataclysm. Listen now: (download)References:Books we mentioned:Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One's Looking) The Boy Kings: A Journey into the Heart of the Social Network 

Many of us work on systems that are designed to be quite robust, even highly available--but how can we go beyond that and make them antifragile--that is, how can we get these systems to grow in robustness as they are changed, loaded, and experience failures?  One spoiler, it involves loving errors.In this episode, Bett and Russ discuss antifragile with Dr. Martin Monperrus of the University of Lille & Inria.  He is preparing to do research in this area and has published a paper on the topic.We discuss many related questions, and where there are ready answers, we delve into to them--listen to hear about this very intriguing topic.Listen now: (download)References:A few of the other books we mention:Martin's paper: Principles of Antifragile SoftwarePrior episode in which Bett and Russ reviewed the book Antifragile by Nassim Taleb

Why is the Mona Lisa so famous and what does it have to with how we do our jobs?  In this episode, Bett and Russ review and add color to the book Everything Is Obvious: Once You Know the Answer by Duncan J Watts.  The book highlights the many ways we over rely on common sense, how it fails us, and then provides strategies for overcoming those failings.Listen to hear strategies for overcoming the failings of common sense.Listen now: (download)References:A few of the other books we mention:The Click Moment: Seizing Opportunity in an Unpredictable WorldStumbling on HappinessThe Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to SuccessThinking, Fast and SlowThe Black Swan

Perhaps the secret to writing bug free code lies with the health of the coder?  Well, maybe it is a bit more complicated than that, but at the same time, your health and comfort while programming clearly will impact not only the quality of your life, but also the quality of the code you write or the system you architect. In this episode, Jyoti Chawla, joins us. Jyoti is a nurse and a programmer, and as such is uniquely qualified to give advice on how to live long and prosper as a software professional. Listen to get important health related tips.Listen now: (download)References:Sitting is the new smoking:  http://youtu.be/Fc-Csmlv1b0Mobile apps that Jyoti created:  http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/jacksonville-health-wellness/32ebb157-76d7-41d5-a692-6243852cfd9bBett's recent speech that relates: "The World's Most Dangerous Job"

After defeating mankind at Jeopardy, Watson is displaying humility and mercy by taking on a new role: assisting humans with research and finding smarter answers, for example, helping treat brain cancer.  In this episode we discuss Watson and how it will impact your future with, Jerome Pesenti, VP of Watson Core Technology.IBM continues to make a huge bet on cognitive computing through Watson, and is extending this bet into the cloud, making Watson available to a much wider audience in the form of Watson-as-a-Service,  Is there a place for it in your architecture?  After all, having some level of machine learning and intelligence may quickly become a base requirement for enterprise applications.  Listen to learn more...Listen now: (download)Books that were mentioned:Permutation CityDiamond AgeEverything is Obvious: How Common Sense Fails UsReferences:Watson EcosystemHow Watson Changed IBMBuild with WatsonWatson Q&A at IBM's Developer Works (interesting to peruse)

Bett and Russ review Nassim Nicholas Taleb's book "Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder".  We previously reviewed Black Swan, and thought, in preparation for a deeper discussion of how Antifragile's concepts can apply to software development and architecture, that we should review this book, also. References:Humans need not ApplyEverything is Obvious *Once you know the answerThinking Fast and SlowListen now: (download)

In light of the size of current software projects, good project leadership is essential to a project’s success. The role of technical project leader frequently falls on software architects, yet architects are often not trained in leadership or—even worse—are not aware of their roles as leaders. Yet, the leadership architects can and should provide is often pivotal to a project’s success. In this episode, Russ interviews Bett as she describes several concrete strategies that an architect can follow to become a leader.Listen now: (download)References:The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything by Stephen M.R. CoveyLife Is a Series of Presentations: 8 Ways to Punch Up Your People Skills Tony Jeary (Author), Kim Dower (Contributor), J.E. Fishman (Contributor)So, What's Your Point?: A practical guide for learning and applying effective interpersonal communication techniques by James Wetherbe and Bond WetherbeToastmasters